Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-03-04
with a rifle Walker killed two more

The superstitious nature Of the
Indian would have driven him away
had he not burned for revenge
And, too, it was argued that the
wagon must contain something of
great value to have been built that
way, and greed was added to the
thirst for vengeance. They believ-
ed that the bottom of the box, at
least, was of wood, and about three
hours after dark a number OF war
riors, each having a bunch of dry
grass under his arm, crept forward
to the vehicle to start fire under
it. They crept as noiselessly as
serpents, but before a man of them
had passed under double.barrel-
ed shotgun belched forth its con-
tents, and two more bucks set out
for the happy hunting grounds
Next day, refusing to believe that
a wagon could be bullet proof, the
Indians opened q fusilade, which
was maintained for two hours
They were behind trees and logs
and other cover, and not q shot was
provoked in response. Various
schemes were cOncOcted to get at
the wagon, which was finally be-
lieved to contain party OF hunt
ers. but none promised success
At noon, however, a number Of
young warriors volunteered to car
ny out a plan. There were twelve
of them, and they were to approach
the wagon in a wide circle. The
idea was to seize and upset 1t, and
thus render the occupants harm
less. The circle was made, and it
gradually narrowed until the sig
nal for a rush was made.
The man within-grim, silent,
watchful-let the circle close, and
the warriors seize the wheels before
he opened fire. 1t would take a
dozen stout men to have lifted two
OF the wheels off the ground. He
shot down three of them and the
others fed in terror, and half an
hour later the siege was abandoned
and the Indians were moving OIL
For two long weeks the wagon re-
NAMED on the spot, an object OF
curiosity to scouts and hunters
an object of awe and menace to the
savages. Then, one morning, Just
at daylight, Grim Walker came in
to Fort Mcpherson for his mules
Ae was going to move his iron cage
to new fields. He replenished hi'
provisions, and inside of two hours
was off again, having spoken lest
than fifty words during his stay
1t seemed as if he had grown tall
er, iercer, more grim and revenge
full. There was something pitifu
in knowing that he alone had sur
vived the massacre something ap
palling in the knowledge that HI
. had become a Nemesis whom moth
r ing but blood would salty.
The wagon was moved north t.
? the head waters of the Saline Fork
; One who has been over the rout
will wonder how it could have beel
I done. 1t was attacked there on
r forenoon about 10 o'clock by BAN
Q of thirty warriors who had bee
/ raiding on the Solomon's River
The mules we're staked out, an
Grim Walker sat at his camp fire
, The warriors charged up on horse
A., back, believing they had hunter
or surveyors outfit, and while the
stampeded and secured the mules
four of them were killed from tn
q loopholes of the cage. They cam
: back again, and another was kille'
and two were wounded. Then the
, discovered what sort of an enem
, they had to deal with and will
drew. Grim Walker and his WACO
. remained there for a month. Whe
! the Indians would no longer com
to him he set out in search of then
and he became a veritable terror
. Twenty different warriors whom
interviewed between 1864 and 1876
. told me that Walker was NOR
! feared than a hundred Indian hgh
ers. lie killed everything be cam
o to that was Indian, includiD
. squaws, ponies, children, and dog
= No camp felt safe from him. II
o had the ferocity of a hungry tige
and the cunning Of a serpent. ii
used his iron wagon as headqual
8 tiers and made raids for fifty mile
around. During the summer on
scouts saw Walker or his WACO
9 once a fortnight. He was last see
alive on September I'd, on the RI
publican River, when he had
fresh Indian scalp at his belt. II
+ had then blown up his wagon wit
gunpowder and abandoned it, a
though he did not state the fact
\ His hair and beard had becom
4 long and unkempt, his clothin
4 was in rags and there could be n
doubt that he had gone mad. 0
r the 18th of the month, as l rod
n with an escort of soldiers south {
4 where he was seen on the I'd, an
n fifty miles from the spot we foun
4 him dead. He lay on a bare knoll
= on the broad of his back, with hi
n arms folded over his breast and hi
q rife by his side. His eyes wer